Welcome to Gaia! ::

(well, at least I was underground when it hit. whew.)

Mendez hoped that the flood wouldn't break through the barricade that he and the marines had built. Opening a COM to Mathias, he spoke quickly "Sir, I hear covenant have been dispatched. If you don't mind, we could use some help. We have about five minutes until the flood get through the barricade." The COM clicked off and Mendez checked his rifle before slapping the clip back into place. "God, if you're up there, we could use some help." he looked at a marine holding a cross and muttering, "Be on your guard, for the devil walketh among us seeking whom he may take...." He was interrupted by a banging on the other side of the door. "Be ready men, They're coming through."

Mendez heard a banging on the door behind him and all of the marines turned with rifles aimed at the center. When it opened, a startled Gunnery Sergeant took a step back. "Whoa, little jumpy aren't we..." He hauled in nine more marines pulled boxes behind them with weapons and ammo. Mendez's marines pulled out grenades, Shotguns, Explosives, and weapons. "Thanks men, now shut that door and get behind the barricades. "I don't take orders from you...." He cut himself off when he saw the hard look in Mendez's eyes. "S-sorry..." he jumped behind a barricade before anything else was said.

The heavy Steel alloy doors fell to reveal a small army of Combat forms and tiny bloated infection forms. Mendez reached for another clip for his rifle, but found none. Suddenly he realized that this was his last stand. "RELOAD!! I NEED A RELOAD!!!" as he looked, marines, fellow soldiers, and friends alike fell beneath the onslaught of flood forms. A click on the comlink signaled a transmission to the surface. "This is Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Mendez, We are being overrun by flood forms." as Mendez said it, his pistol's clip went empty and he pulled out his Combat Knife. "This is my last transmission. We Are Overrun, I repeat, We Are Overrun. Good luck surface....." A click signaled the end of his message. "Well you bloody bastards, If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me." His knife flashed and Combat forms littered the ground in pools of green congealed blood in front, behind, and on all sides of him. As he stood, he and another marine in a corner, stood over the forms, victorious. Just as he felt a sigh of relief, A tentacle Entered through his spine and exited through his chest. "Sh-" His limp body thumped on the ground and the other marine was suddenly overtaken by another wave of flood forms. The last thing Mendez heard was the marines screams of pain.

The SPARTAN pulled the trigger of his BR55 again and again, pumping round after round into one combat form after another as he and a few Marines that he'd managed to keep alive thus far backed their way up the ramp that led out of the structure. He'd already plotted where the Flood infection form was usually housed in a host's body. There was always a puffy mass in the Elite's chest with three or so large tentacles protruding outward. The high velocity rounds, which usually would harmlessly pierce the host's spongie body, shattered he pod-like creature within the Elite's chest. The walking corpse once again became lifeless and fell over backwards into a mass of its brothers. Giving up killing them one at a time, the SPARTAN primed and threw two Frag grenades before running like the rest of his team to get out, leaving two small explosions behind him. Before doing so, however, he clicked on his COM and opened up a channel to anyone who was on the surface. "This is SPARTAN 1-0-8 to any topside UNSC forces: We are currently about to exit the structure, and I request that no one fire and no one seal off the entrance until we are clear from the structure." Without waiting for a response, he ordered what little of his team remained to run as fast as they could towards their only way out, knowing they'd be entering a totally different form of hell on the surface.

Howie was scrambling up the ramp trying to stay with 108 and not get eaten by the flood. It all seemed like a dream, he was haveing troble recalling any major details. They were almost to the surface and he would welcome the thought of actully fighting Covis and not flood.

The SPARTAN swiftly ordered every Marine in his command onto the available Pelicans, most having gotten off the ground already and were, hopefully, safely aboard the Titan in orbit around Theta Halo. He turned in time to fire at any Flood forms they couldn't contain below the surface, and easily emptied out his last clip, before climbing into the nearest Pelican and manning the aft AP turret. He aimed the barrel of the large turret at the structure's entrance and fired away at it, most of the high calibur rounds tearing into several different Flood forms as they poured out of the entrance, covering the rest of the Marines as they boarded their own Pelicans.

Howie was quickly following 108 and jumped onto the same pelican as him. He then switched to his BR55 and started to unload on the flood forms that were able to escape the SPARTANS line of fire. He was waiting for the engines to fire and take them off this damn ring.

A dire situation needs dire actions. His friend and instructor had taught him that. Someone who had been lost forever when the planet had been glassed over. His role model. His brother in arms. But that was the past and this was the present. All Michael's thought except for one disapeared as he "Floored" the Pelican. His head flew against the head rest and his thoughts were left with the Flood. His only objective at this point; get off the ******** ring and back to the Titan. His heart rate grew faster and faster as he wated scenery fly by. In an immediat struggle Michael pulled the Pelican into the air and fly as fast as the Gun Metal Pelican rocketed toward the vast areas of space. And home sweet Titan.